Tomorrow
by Ereshkigali
Summary: [COMPLETE][TyKa] Kai and Tyson spend the night out in the woods. Fluff, shonenai and insanity ensured. RAYOR.
1. Chapter 1

**Ereshkigali:** Good grief.

**Tyson: **I LOVE THE WORLD!

**Ereshkigali:** Goodness, gracious grief.

**Kai:** What is it this time?

**Ereshkigali:** I wrote something serious.

**Tyson:** I LOVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM!

**Kai:** Do I want to know?

**Ereshkigali:** It's a TyKa fic. Kai's PoV. Set after GRev. Multi-chaptered. Fully edited. Parody-free. Fully plot-lined.

**Tyson:** I LOVE THE GALAXY!

**Ereshkigali:** Great flying cabbages, I am in such insane shock.

**Kai:** Excuse me? TyKa? TyKa, as you screaming fangirls call it, does not exist.

**Ereshkigali:** In your weird little world, maybe. However, although I unfortunately don't own Beyblade, or that weird little _Teddy Bears' Picnic_ song that I dredged up from the depths of my childhood, I am invested with the sacred powers of a fic writer, which means that I can do whatever I want! So there!

**Tyson:** I LOVE THE UNIVERSE!

**Kai:** This cannot be good.

**Ereshkigali:** Let the TyKa begin!

**Tyson:** I think I'm in good mood today.

**Kai:** Where's the nearest cliff?

I floated, adrift on the waves of sleep, unable to sink beneath the surface. I had not slept, spending the night caught in a stiff, wide-eyed web between the worlds of dreams and reality. My neck ached, and my eyes were dry and drowsy. I was glad when the pale glow of dawn began to stain the sky silver. I sat up, glancing wearily at the clock beside me, which showed 6: 07 in luminous, green figures – eight minutes until the alarm was set to go off. It would be at least another, oh, say, five hours, before the others began to wake. It was, after all, a Saturday.

I padded down the halls of the dojo to the bathroom, where I took a quick, cold shower. I _like_ quick, cold showers. This one in particular was a much-needed wake-up call. The reasons I hadn't slept were perfectly clear in my mind, but none of them were of the sort that one would readily 'share with the class', as I've heard it put. They were mostly memories, and they mostly involved a certain immature, loudmouth blader.

I dressed swiftly, shivering slightly. It had long since ceased to be summer, and for the past few weeks the days had been growing steadily colder. The air was soft and cool, the skies shimmering with swathes of opalescent cloud. The last, tattered leaves of autumn, ragged, yellow-golden pools of brightness painted onto the silver sky, had fallen more than a week ago, drifting down through the damp air.

Winter was coming, and I was not happy about it.

After my shower, I headed outside, passing as I did so through the TV room, which was a mistake. The guys had obviously spent the night watching movies. Max was asleep on a pile of cushions on the floor. At one end of the sofa was a curled-up, sleeping Daichi, covered, strangely, by a baby-blue blanket decorated with small, yellow ducks. Sprawled on his stomach, closer to the other end, his hair pulling itself loose and spilling everywhere beneath that stupid baseball cap, was Tyson.

One thick, golden-dark stream of sunlight had lanced down through the mass of white mist that shrouded the sky, and its buttery-sweet warmth flooded the room, pouring across the floor, bathing his body in crystalline glow of golden light. It welled up around him, sliding shafted fingers through his hair, rinsing his face in radiance, creeping up to his mouth and dripping between his lips like jewelled beads of syrup. Like an idiot, I allowed myself to stand still for a moment, watching him, a smile coming to my lips just from looking at him.

Then he opened his eyes.

I stiffened, a shockwave of adrenaline crashing through me. He looked up at me sleepily, and yawned, blinking a couple of times. Then he rubbed his face with a hand and sat up, still looking at me inquisitively.

"Kai? Dude? What're you doing here?" he asked, yawning again.

I didn't answer. I walked away across the sunlight floor, and went outside, sliding the door closed behind me.

I leaned against a pillar and looked out at the pale world. The mists were clearing now, leaving the sun gazing down tiredly through the rippling air, a bright smear of icy brilliance. Drops of dark dew, quivering with a mercurial clarity, clung to the bare, brown branches of the trees, and to each slender, sharp-edged blade of grass. It was a beautiful day, clear and rain-rinsed and cool, heavy with the deep, watery scents of earth and moss. I should have been in a relatively good mood.

I was not.

"Hey," Tyson said, pulling on his jacket and stumbling out into the cold morning. "Dude, aren't you cold? It's _freezing_ out here."

I said nothing, but rolled my eyes slightly away.

"Oh, come on, man. You may not have actual human emotions, but that doesn't mean that you don't get cold."

"I'm fine, Tyson," I said, sharply.

"Alright, alright, I get the message," he said, backing away and leaning against the neighbouring pillar, stuffing his hands in his pockets and gazing out at the garden. He was silent for a little while, and I was beginning to think that he would soon get bored and leave me in peace. Unfortunately, I was wrong. He said, as though carrying on a conversation, "You guys are leaving tomorrow."

This, being obvious, didn't seem to merit an answer.

"I was just wondering what you thought of the whole thing."

I gave a small shrug and turned my face ever so slightly away.

"I mean, Rei and Maxie are cool with it – here for the summer, home in winter."

He still hadn't said anything to which I felt like replying.

"I guess it means that the Bladebreakers will always be a team, which is al that really matters."

"Did you want to say something to me?" I asked, getting bored.

He gave me a very annoyed look, which I found difficult to ignore. He is the funniest thing on earth when he's cross. I caught his eye, and tried very hard to stare him down. All it did was make him grin, though: a small, exasperated grin accompanied by a little wave of laughter, as though I said or done something funny.

"What?" I snapped.

"You," he said, still grinning. "Ah, Kai. I'm really going to miss you."

"Well, don't consider the sentiment returned."

"I'm only trying to be nice," he said, leaning back and folding his arms behind his head. "For that, I am so taking you down next Championships."

I just snorted derisively and crossed my arms.

"Translation from Kai-speak?"

I smiled in spite of myself. "Don't bet on it."

He laughed, that same little rippling puff of breath, and repeated, softly, "Ah, Kai."

"Ah, Kai, what?" I asked, irritably.

"Ah, Kai, what would we do without you?"

"Probably walk into the back of a bus," I said, sourly. "Don't you have something better to do than ask stupid questions?"

"No," he said, cheerfully. "Everyone else is asleep."

"That's what you think!" Daichi yelled, jumping up onto his back and pulling at his hair. "Heh, you snooze, you lose!"

"Daichi, cut it out!"

"Hey! Group hug!" Max yelled, laughing, appearing in the doorway just as Daichi fled past.

"I thought we had decided to ban caffeine," I heard Rei's amused voice say from somewhere inside.

"I don't need caffeine when there's revenge to be had!" Tyson shouted, dashing after Daichi. "Get back here, you little runt!"

I brushed past Max and Rei and went back to my room.

At eight o' clock, I went back downstairs, hoping that the madness had subsided. I should have known better. This was, after all the Kinomiya dojo. The madness never subsided.

"_Picnic time for teddy bears_!" Daichi could be heard bawling.

"_The little teddy bears are having a wonderful time today_!" Tyson added equally loudly, leaping excitedly into the kitchen, followed closely by the others.

"Oh, please, what now?" I muttered.

"We're going on a picnic!" Hilary said, brightly. "It's to celebrate our last day together."

"So, you're celebrating us leaving tomorrow?" Max asked. "Thanks, Hilary."

She ignored him. "You," she said to me, "can carry this basket. It's very heavy, so don't drop it on anyone."

"Has anyone noticed the fact that the temperature is due to fall below freezing tonight?" Kenny asked, nervously.

"Oh, relax," she said, waving her hand in the air. "We've got lots of nice, snuggly blankets and hot chocolate, and we'll be home way before tonight, anyway. You worry too much."

"_At six o'clock their mommies and daddies will take them home to bed_…" Tyson and Daichi chorused.

"I don't think he worries enough about these two," Rei chuckled. "Hey, Kai, don't look so cross! We're going to have fun!"

"_Because they're tired little teddy bears!_" Tyson finished, triumphantly. "So, Kai, what do you say? You coming?"

"Fine," I said. "Whatever. Let's go."

As we filed out of the house to the bus stop, Tyson fell back a little to walk next to me. "Dude," he said.

"What?"

"When you go – you're not just going to ignore us like last time, right? I mean, we'll still see each other, won't we? You'll still talk to us, won't you?"

"I believe I barely talk to you now," I said, taken aback a little.

"I'm serious, Kai. It kind of sucked, last year – I mean, everyone just left. I don't - I don't blame them, or anything! It's just that it was pretty lonely for a while."

"Being alone isn't that bad," I said, stiffly. Inwardly, I was raging powerlessly at my own cowardice. Where was the harm in saying, 'I'll miss you, too'? Where was the harm in saying, 'I'll look after you'?

There was none.

But still I couldn't do it.

"There's a difference between being alone and being lonely," he pointed out. "I mean, you could be in a huge crowd and not have a single friend. Or, like, you could spend most of your time all by yourself, and hardly ever talk to anyone, but you'll still have friends somewhere, and they'll be thinking of you."

"If you say so," I said, and tried to move away. Tyson turning into a philosopher is not an easy thing to deal with. He put his hand on my arm; I moved my arm away, but looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

He said, "Don't let me be alone, OK, dude? I told you – I'm going to miss you."

"I don't think I'm going to get the chance to leave you alone, seeing as you seem to be stalking me."

He smiled, softly, sadly. "Kai…" he began.

"Tyson," I cut in, quietly, fiercely, "just because I don't say that I care – just because I don't remind you of it every single day – doesn't mean that I don't. I do care about all of you – very, very much. I've said it, and I'm not going to again. Happy?"

"Yeah," he said, softly, holding my gaze. "Yeah, Kai, I am."

I said, neither wanting nor daring to look away from his eyes, "Are you going to leave me alone now?"

"My wish is your command," he said, and grinned, and skipped away to pick on Daichi.

I allowed myself a small smile, and kept on walking.

**Ereshkigali**: That's not all, folks! This will continue! Everyone who reviews gets a free Boris plushie to abuse!

**Tyson**: _Mary had a little lamb…_

**Kai:** I wonder…shoot myself in the head, or slit my wrists?

**Ereshkigali:** Hey, don't blame me! You're the one who's hitting on Tyson.

**Kai:** I blame you. I BLAME YOU. So, there's more of this thing?

**Tyson:** _Little lamb, little lamb…_

**Ereshkigali:** If I survive writing the two reports I have due for next week, then yes, there will be more. I'm planning a total of four chapters, perhaps five.

**Kai**: Great. Just what I wanted to hear.

**Tyson:** _Mary had a little lamb whose FLEECE…WAS…WHITE…AS…SNOW!_

**Kai:** I'm going back to the Abbey.


	2. Chapter 2

**REPLIES TO REVIEWERS ARE AFTER THE FIC**

Ooh, damn. I think that I wrote 'invested' instead of 'vested' in the little intro thing for the first chapter. How airhead can you get? I'm actually really embarrassed about it. It's not like me to make that sort of mistake. Usually the only three subjects I _don't_ fail are my languages.

Look, in general, **Chapter One really wasn't my best**. I had less than two hours in which to speed-write it, and I didn't even edit it at all. I'm actually considering redoing it. It also wasn't very Kai-like, unless he is a closet poet who writes weird epithets to rain clouds. This, however, is from Tyson's PoV, and he's a bit easier to keep IC. He's more relaxed and ordinary in his writing than Kai, so expect a major change in the writing style.

What else? Oh, yeah. Guys hit on guys, and Beyblade is not mine. Capice?

Sorry. Always wanted to use that word.

"Brownies! Brownies! Brownies!"

"Hilary, Tyson found the brownies."

"So I heard."

"Hey, I like chocolate, OK?" I protested, my mouth full: the way I like it to be. "Eating isn't against the law."

"I found a frog!" Daichi yelled. "Over here in the stream!"

"Cute!" Maxie said. "Ah, cool! It's all slimy!"

"Poor little guy," I said, sneaking another brownie and lying back on the blanket, feeling the grass and the acorns and the small rocks dig into my back through the cloth. "He's probably just wet. You don't have to call him names, you know."

"Heh, then I guess the only slimeball round here is you, Tyson," Daichi snickered.

"What?" I exclaimed, sitting up again and looking around wildly. "You little moron! You're going to get it this time!"

Coward that he is, he hid behind Hilary, who looked at me through narrowed eyes.

"This," she said, "is a peaceful day of rest and relaxation. Beating up Daichi is not on the list of things to do. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, lying down again and concentrating on my brownie. Very few things are as scary as Hilary in a bad mood.

It was a pretty cool place, I guess. We'd taken the bus for most of the way, and then walked for a little bit to get here: a huge stretch of open country beyond the outskirts of town, with these tall, beautiful trees and pretty little streams everywhere. OK, I was freezing my butt off. OK, everything was wet. OK, Daichi was being a brainless idiot. Apart from all that, though, it had been a seriously nice day so far. You know that really clean, misty smell that comes when it's been raining? Like mint and roses and water and earth and everything all mixed up together? Yeah. I was lying on a blanket in the middle of nowhere with my best friends in the whole universe, eating brownies and drinking hot chocolate.

Pretty good life, when you think about it.

Then I remembered that the others were leaving tomorrow, and suddenly didn't feel as happy.

We figured, way back after the whole BEGA thing ended, that every summer we could have a Bladebreakers reunion. That way we could stick together and train against each other as well as our other teams. It had worked great. It was like old times again, only even better. I mean, I'd really missed the guys when they left. Maxie is just about my best friend ever, and Rei is so kind and funny and helpful, and Kai is…Kai is Kai, and that's the best thing he could be.

I know now that it was for the best, and I'm cool with how things have turned out – but that didn't mean I wasn't going to miss them.

The Chief sneezed. "Guys, it's getting kind of late," he informed us.

"How late?" Maxie asked.

"It's just four. I was under the impression that the bus came at half-past, so…"

"We're going to be late!" Hilary shrieked. "I knew this would happen! We're going to have to run! Come on, help pack up, quick!"

I got up, chomping down the last of the brownie, and helped Rei gather all the stuff into the two baskets, except for the last flask of coffee, which I had decided deserved special attention. It was while we were packing up that I realised that Kai had disappeared, as usual.

"Uh, guys, where's Kai?" I asked, straightening up and slinging a basket onto my back.

"He went off a little while ago," Daichi said. "I didn't see where he was going."

"Oh, great!" Hilary growled. "Typical Kai."

"Hey, he's allowed to go where he wants," Rei said, fairly.

"Not when he's going to make the rest of us miss the bus!" she raged.

"Relax," I told her, dropping the basket to the ground and finding one of the raincoats we'd packed. Hey, I was not about to get soaked to the skin just because Kai felt like doing a runner. "I'll find him. It's not like he'll have gone too far."

"Just hurry, OK?" the Chief called after me. "Oh, great, it's already raining!"

The path was muddy, and all the little plants along the edge were wet, their leaves shining this deep, green-grey colour. The sky was overcast, and the trees had already lost almost all of their leaves, so their branches stood out stark and stiff against the clouds. Everything was pale, from the little starry flowers hidden in the leafy darkness, their petals all bruised and brown with damp, to the drained, bleached sky, to the droplets of rain clinging to the thin, white twigs. It was like the whole world had been painted silver, apart from the path, which was rich and dark. The rain, which was still a soft, misty little drizzle, floated around me like these teeny tiny feathers. It was kind of pretty, I guess. Yeah, it had been a great day. It was the thought of tomorrow that was upsetting me.

OK, you want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the stupid, embarrassing and potentially life-ruining truth, right?

Right.

You got it.

Kai is…look, he means a lot to me, alright? There was a time when he annoyed me like crazy, and in a way he still does. He's so stuck-up and grouchy and mean half the time. He barely talks to us at all. I guess, though, that that's just how he is. That's what makes him Kai. If he went around giving everyone hugs and kisses and chocolate cookies, then he wouldn't _be_ Kai, which would seriously suck.

And after you get through the fact that he seems to_ enjoy_ making me mad, there is that other very unimportant little fact that I actually admire him more than anything. I mean, he's the best blader I know, no question about that. He's dedicated, he's gifted, he's focused, he's disciplined – heh, he's got everything. I know it seems like I can't stand him, and mostly I can't, but he's just so special to me that I can't help but look up to him.

I didn't say that.

I think it was about then that I tripped over a root.

"Nice one," a voice said from above.

I got up off my hands and knees, retrieving the flask of coffee. Luckily, it had been closed when I dropped it and so hadn't spilt. Shivering, drawing the coat around me to keep out the rain, which was now falling hard and fast, I turned and saw Kai.

The path had divided into three narrow, muddy routes, and alongside one of these ran a deep ditch full of dark, wet stones and a few ferns. A little stream, black beneath the spindly shadows of the trees, ruffled white where the light caught it, slipped across the stones. Kai, seated on an old, mossy tree-stump, his chin resting on his drawn-up knees, was following the motion of the water with his eyes, his hair plastered to his face by the rain. He was soaking wet. I think he likes freezing half to death.

"It's your fault," I told him, getting mad again. "I got sent out here to look for you. Apparently the great Kai needs a babysitter." He just grunted and hunched his shoulders. It was only then that I saw that as well as being wet through, his clothes were dirtied, and torn in a couple of places. He had these huge grazes all down his arms: pale blotches of red that glistened in the rain, like some of the skin had been scraped off. "Kai," I said, frowning, forgetting that I had been cross. "What happened?"

"I fell," he said, shortly. "Why are you here?"

"Fell?" I stammered. "Dude, are you OK?"

"Why are you here?" he asked again.

"We're leaving," I said. If he didn't want help, fine. "Hilary was getting freaked about missing the bus. We'd better go."

He said nothing, but slid off the stump and began to walk off in the direction that I had come from. It was raining really hard now, and the path was just a long trail of mud. If you are a normal person, when you are caught out in the rain, you run as fast as you can to get out of it. This prevents you from catching pneumonia and dying. Kai, however, is not normal. He just kept trudging on and on down the track, this little dark blur in the middle of the silver forest, his hands stuffed into his pockets, his eyes fixed ahead of him. Shivering, my eyes streaming, I drew the hood of the raincoat over my head and dashed after him.

"You know the guy with the long black cloak and the scythe thingy?" I asked him, my teeth chattering.

"The Grim Reaper?" he suggested, still not looking at me. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that he would be raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah, him." I pulled the folds of the waterproof plastic still lower over my face and waved the flask of coffee around. "See? Fear me! I have come to steal your soul! Do not waste your time begging, mortal! I feel no pity!"

Sometimes I don't know why I even try. The guy just kept right on walking.

"You know, if you ask me really nicely I might just let you keep your soul," I suggested. "I could spare you the tortures of the…the…um…the Coffee of Doom."

"Tyson, I hope you realise that you are not particularly intimidating."

"Oh. Um, thanks." I could have sworn that he laughed just a little after I said that, which was progress. I continued, "So, d'you want to tell me what you did to your arms?"

"I told you. I fell. The rocks are loose."

"It looks sore."

Yup, he didn't answer. I swear, he is more predictable than a clock.

"Can I see?"

"No."

"Does it still hurt?"

"No."

"Are you cold?"

"No."

"Are you ever going to give me a better answer than 'no'?"

"No."

"Kai! Do you even know how to have a proper conversation? And don't you dare say 'no'!"

He looked over his shoulder at me with a derisive glance, and said, "No."

"Kai! What is your problem?" I was jogging alongside him to keep up with his long strides. I could feel the small, warm puffs of his breath on my face. "Would it kill you to talk to someone for more than a minute? Kai! Just answer the question, dude!"

"Have you ever noticed that more than ninety per cent of our conversations involve you shouting and me walking away?"

"What kind of answer is that?" I yelled.

I was expecting more silence, or some stupid, mocking answer. What I was not expecting was to see him stop dead in the middle of the path.

"Can we move?" I asked, exasperated. "It's raining. I'm cold. Kai, I'm cold…oh." I found myself staring at exactly the same tree stump that I had seen less the five minutes ago. "Great. Just great. Hilary's going to kill us. We've probably already missed the bus. Which is the right way?"

Like I said before, there were three paths. We were standing in the middle of one of them. He stood still for a long, long while, just looking at the other two, swinging his head slowly from one to the other like a snake's, while I got colder and colder. "I don't know," he said at last. "I thought that this way was right, but apparently it wasn't. We'll try the other two."

"You don't know?" I practically shrieked.

"Now who needs a babysitter?' he muttered. "You don't happen to know which direction we should be heading in?"

"I don't even know how many directions there are!" I told him, aghast. This sort of thing was not supposed to happen. "Just flip a coin or something and pick one. It's cold!"

"So I've heard," he said under his breath, and strode towards the left-hand path.

I hurried after him, saying, "You know, we could just have taken a wrong turn on the other path."

"If neither of these two leads us out, we'll try the first one again," he said, calmly.

It didn't sound like such a good plan to me. This path would probably get us even more lost. Hang on…lost? "Um, Kai…we're not lost, are we?"

"Yes, we are," he said.

"We're going to die!" I wailed. "What now?'

"Now we find our way out," he replied, smoothly. "Look, you cannot get too seriously lost within a radius of less than four kilometres. It'll just take some time."

"Some time? We'll be stuck here for the next billion years! How can you be so calm? We're doomed!"

"Grow up," he snapped. We had come to a fork in the road; without hesitation, he chose the left-hand one.

"Are you sure that's the way?" I asked. "Damn, it's cold."

"Tyson, I _know_ it's cold. I noticed that _before_ you began shouting it at me every other second. There is nothing I can do about it, so stop whining!"

Another fork. This time he chose the right-hand path, as it was wider. The left hand way was not much more than a wisp of trodden-down earth. Mutinously, I followed him, sipping the warm coffee and glaring at the back of his head. It suddenly occurred to me that he was way wetter than I was. He didn't even have a raincoat, and he wasn't complaining. If I looked closely – yeah, his shoulders were shaking. The hair on his arms had risen up, and his fingers were turning a pink-purple colour at the tips. I suddenly felt kind of bad, and doubled my pace to catch up with him.

"I don't care if you say you're not cold, you look dead," I told him. "Here." I slipped the raincoat half off and draped part of it over his shoulders so that it covered us both.

"Thanks," he said, but it was totally emotionless: just a word, meaning nothing, said only for the sake of politeness. He had stiffened, and was walking kind of awkwardly, like he didn't want to touch me more than necessary. That's Kai alright: he doesn't like touching anyone. I've never known whether it was cause of the stuff they did to him at that Abbey place, or whether he was always a loner. I mean, being treated like that for years can do things to you: make you mistrust people, teach you to rely on yourself and no one else. Part of me often wonders what would have happened if Kai had grown up normally. Would he be like the rest of us, friendly and happy and smiling? Or would he still just naturally keep to himself? It's hard to tell. I don't think it matters what happened back then, though, because it's over. He's with us, now, and he has Tala to stand by him, too.

"Want some Coffee of Doom?" I asked, a bit too brightly. Hey, thinking of the Abbey gives me the creeps, OK? It reminds me of the whole Black Dranzer thing, and that is _not_ something I want to think about.

"No," he said.

I caught his arm and made him stop. "Drink," I said, doing my best Hilary impersonation and shoving the flask in his face.

"I don't want to," he said, looking away.

"Oh, come on! You haven't eaten a thing the whole day! You didn't even have breakfast! No one can go that long without food. I mean, just thinking about it scares me. Have some coffee, dude. It's not like I poisoned it."

We were being squeezed closely together by the raincoat, and both of us were still shivering. I could feel the goosebumps on his arms where our skin touched. It was kind of nice, feeling him so close against me. He was solid and reassuring and, best of all, our combined body temperature began to create a little more warmth. Instinctively (OK, and because I like…being around him…) I moved just the littlest bit closer. He was still looking down and away to the side, as though he were afraid to look at me. I pressed the flask against his chest, and his fingers closed around it grudgingly. He let out an exasperated sigh, and lifted it up to his lips, taking a few sullen mouthfuls.

"You hardly drank any of it," I protested. "Kai, don't make me hurt you."

He gave a very sceptical laugh that really made me want to punch his head in. Before I could do so, though, he said, quietly, matter-of-factly, "I think we should save that coffee."

"Why?" I asked. "Drink it now, while it's hot!"

"We might be out here longer than expected," he said.

I looked around. We were surrounded by trees. They were rustling and shaking beneath the onslaught of pelting rain. The path was nowhere to be seen.

**Well, that's a wrap.** It was definitely better than Chapter One, I think. I got this up sooner than expected, but you will have to wait a while for the next exciting instalment, because the winter holidays end next week. Ain't school a blast?

Anyway, this is the bit where I bow down and worship all those wonderful souls who reviewed Chapter One:

**Destruction Devil:** Thank you! It means a lot to me. Nice name, BTW.

**takuya:** Hey! Glad you liked it _(does freaky little dance of happiness) _Thanks so much for reviewing.

**still-trying-to-get-a-life:** Hope you liked this chapter. No screaming is necessary, although you can if you really want to. Expressing your emotions is a positive outlet of negative energy, or whatever it is the guidance teacher tells us. I wouldn't know: I prefer to spend most of Health Ed. asleep.

**spirtfox:** It was good? It was good? Woohoo! Sorry. I _am_ on a review-high over here. Thanks!

**luvyagal:** Heh, always nice to know that I can count on someone to help me crush Boris into a million billion ugly little itty-bitty pieces. It is, after all, doing the world a huge service.

**FeelinGlayish:** Thank you! I was a bit edgy about my characterisation of Kai, so thanks for the morale boosting!

**TechnoRanma:** Thank you, thank you very much. Hope you liked this one, too!

That's it for now. I'll probably work on this at school and try to have it typed up before next weekend. Wish me luck!


	3. Chapter 3

**Ereshkigali:** You know when you spend an insane fifteen minutes squeaking up and down like a lunatic with a serious sugar addiction simply because of all the unutterably amazing and wonderful people who reviewed your story?

**Kai:** No.

**Ereshkigali:** Your loss. It was fun.

**Kai:** So enlighten me: why haven't you been updating?

**Ereshkigali:** I've been working out various ways in which to murder my maths teacher. Most of them involved either a pair of very sharp imaginary katanas or banana peals arranged at strategic and deadly intervals.

**Kai:** Any of them work?

**Ereshkigali:** I'm not even going to answer that. Oh, well. The fic must go on. Actually, after everyone being so nice about the last two chapters, I'm kind of nervous about posting this one. PLEASE don't hate me if it sucks. I spent the whole week on it, but I still can't guarantee success.

**Tyson:** So, the shonen-ai continues?

**Ereshkigali:** Naturally. In addition to that, this chapter, as well as being unbelievably long, contains a bit of blood that accompanies a minor injury, as well as the serious traumatising of an entirely innocent rock. And, just out of interest, if I told you that I did indeed own Beyblade, would you think that I was desperate or just plain crazy? Both? Yeah. Thought so. You get the message: it ain't mine, little dudes.

**The rain had finally stopped**, leaving in its wake a misty, airy coolness. We were alone in a crystalline world of diamond-bright beauty, facing each other, pressed together by the folds of the raincoat. I could feel him shivering, and hear his shaky breaths, and, looking at him, his face pink from the cold, I felt self-disgust hit me like a fist to the stomach, sickening me. This was my fault.

"I don't want to sleep in the forest! D'you how many bugs there are in places like this?" he was moaning.

"Well, there's at least one," I said, sounding as fed up as I could.

"Dude! We're about a million years away from civilisation! Civilisation makes doughnuts! This is a serious problem!"

His hair, wet and bedraggled from the rain, was slicked to his face, and I suddenly realised that he was scared. More than that: I realised that I was, too. _This was my fault_.

"The only problem is your inability to be quiet," I growled, and pulled away. Suddenly I didn't want to look at him. Instead, I took a moment to steady myself, blocking all thoughts of hunger and guilt – and Tyson - from my mind, and concentrating on the lattice of silver-fine branches surrounding me, letting the wind flow over me, letting the cold in all its brutal indifference pierce through me until I had grown used to it, and had stopped shivering. The world, I told myself calmly and inexorably, contained only the fact that I was lost. Finding my way out was a challenge. Challenges would, at all costs, be met. There was nothing to impede this goal. There was only the wind, and the water, and the cool earth beneath my feet, and, somewhere, a path leading out of the forest. There was nothing else: no hunger, no panic, no fingers that ached from the cold, no stinging grazes, no tiredness, no guilt, no attachment, no concern.

There was nothing else.

Then I felt something slip into the hollow between my neck and my shoulder: something icy-cold and hesitant. I stiffened, counting four shaking heartbeats before slowly, slowly turning my head to see a hand resting on my shoulder, the little finger lying curled into the curve of my throat. I turned my head further and saw him, standing beside me, looking up into my face with a wry, friendly smile pulling his lips up at the corners.

"Hey," he said, casually. "Relax. It's not like it's your fault." He was still afraid, I knew, but he wasn't showing it. He was more concerned about being nice to me. That, if anything, made me feel even worse – I could get him into this mess, and he could still keep up the pretence of liking me. Almost every single day sees at least one shouting match between the two of us, and yet he has never stopped talking to me. Everyone else eventually got the message and ignored me. He never has. In one way, it is annoying. In another, it is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done to me.

Tyson has never, ever given up on me.

How do I repay the favour?

By getting him lost in the woods.

"Don't touch me," I said, my subconscious plucking a monotone answer from years of habit. My conscious mind was too busy thinking up rude names for itself.

He jerked his hand away, looking almost embarrassed. He said again, "It's really not your fault."

"I know that," I said, irritably, and moved away, knowing that I'd hurt his feelings, and forcing myself to believe that I didn't care. I shouldered my way between two trees, the droplets of rain shaking themselves free from the woven branches and dribbling down the ground. Some landed on my already wet skin, and clung there for a few moments like tiny, tiny teardrops. I pushed on, through the clinging twigs. One moment, a last, forlorn leaf would slide wetly over my arm like; the next, a branch would snap back and draw a thin line of red down my skin. The trees were pressing closer and closer, as though trying to strangle me. Twigs clawed wildly, mercilessly at my face, and roots reached up to trip me. Once I did fall, and landed with a knee in the mud. I grabbed hold of a branch and pulled myself back up again, and squeezed through the narrow gap between two trees, fighting on. Droplets of clear, sweet water spattered everywhere, soaking into the ground and vanishing. I crashed my way through the mirror-bright tranquillity of the forest, leaving it marred and tainted behind me. I didn't care. I wasn't thinking. I liked the emptiness: I liked the clear-cut precision that came with having a goal in mind. All I had to do was reach that goal with as few complications as possible. It kept things simple.

I stopped at last as the trees began to thin. Before me, the ground fell sharply away, forming a drop of about three metres. Maybe six metres ahead, the ground rose again, so that a deep, long rift in the earth was opened. Looking down carefully, I decided that this must once have been a man-made path cut into the ground. This was promising. A little way to my right, a tree – a huge pine - had fallen, bridging the gap rather too conveniently. This confirmed my suspicions of human activity in the area.

Behind I could hear Tyson ploughing through the trees. "Kai!" he was yelling. "Wait up! Dude! Come on, this isn't…" he reached me, collapsed to the ground, and sat there, resting his chin on the flask of coffee, getting his breath back before saying, "funny. Hey, why've stopped?"

"You wanted a road, I found a road," I said, shortly, carefully not looking at him.

"That's not a road, that's the Grand Canyon," he protested. "You're saying we should follow that?"

"Well, it's better than wandering around aimlessly for the rest of our lives," I said, rather impatiently.

"If we could get down," he said, pointedly. "Ha! You didn't think of that, did you, Mr Smarty-pants?"

"We'll look for a way down on the other side," I said, and walked away from him to the tree. It looked more than sturdy enough to bear my weight, and seemed firmly anchored between two boulders that, on closer inspection, proved to be made from concrete that had been draped with moss and lichen. This place had probably been a very popular picnic spot in past years.

"Are you nuts?" I could hear Tyson yelling from a little way behind me.

I stepped onto one of the fake rocks. Cautiously – after all, _I'm_ not the reckless one – I poked at the tree trunk with my foot. Although a little slippery from the rain, it seemed stable enough. Actually, it seemed far too stable. I realised that this, too, had been manufactured, probably from fibreglass. All the better. It would be far less likely to break.

Tyson was still shouting. I ignored him, as this is what usually enables me to remain sane while in his company. I concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other, gaining my balance. The artificial tree was only slightly rounded, and comfortably wide. Mid-way, when I had decided that it was safe, I paused, and called over my shoulder, making sure not to sound too concerned, "Well? Are you coming?"

"Woohoo! Kai saved the day!" he shouted, and leapt up onto the tree, the raincoat flapping behind him like a yellow cape. "Nice one, bud!"

I didn't even bother answering, but kept on walking.

"'Thank you so much, Tyson, for giving me a compliment! You're my best friend ever!'" he prompted.

"Do you ever shut up?' I asked him, losing my patience and turning to face him.

"Look, at least I say more than five words in a day!" he countered.

"At least I_ know_ more than five words."

"At least I'm not stuck-up!"

"You are a self-centred and obnoxious brat."

"You're a big, dumb, mean…meanie!"

"Your vocabulary is impressive."

"This is all your fault!"

"A moment ago you were saying that it wasn't," I said, as coolly as I could, trying to ignore the guilt gnawing at my conscience.

"I was just being nice," he said. "You're just so full of yourself that you don't know what that means!"

"No, I don't," I said, turning away. 'Now if you want to get out of here before nightfall then _shut your mouth _and do what I tell you."

I had only taken one step forward when I felt his hand on my arm. Almost convulsively, I jerked it off. Apparently he just didn't get it. He gave a furious little growl that sounded a lot like "_Kai…_"and caught hold of me again. I spun, my hands curling into fists.

"What?' I asked, quietly, my teeth gritted. My face was inches from his, our eyes glowering into each other's. His grip tightened on my wrist, and I and I could feel the pulse in his thumb beating quick and fast against my skin. A large part of me wanted to strangle him for being so blindly, bluntly persistent, but through the sheer annoyance that had enveloped me, a pathetic, whimpering little voice at the back of my head said something like, _He's Tyson. You can't hurt him. He's _Tyson

So I relaxed my fists, and, glaring at him for good measure, slowly and deliberately pulled my hand away. The motion caused me to lean a little too far out, and the next thing I knew, my foot had slipped backwards on the still-wet surface, and with mind-shattering swiftness, I had crashed down over the edge, my chest and legs scraping the side of the tree, my arms scrabbling for a hold. I found a crack in the fibreglass surface, and my fingers squeezed themselves into it desperately. Tyson's eyes were staring into my own, wide and horrified. Dropping the flask of coffee, which bounced away and tumbled to the ground below, his hands fumbled at my own and gripped them securely. I clutched at him wildly. "It's OK," he gasped. "I've got you. Try pull yourself up."

Careening blindly through the air, my foot hit a branch protruding horizontally from the trunk. I managed to swing my legs up onto it and crouch there, so that my chest was level with the edge of the tree. Tyson's hands were still locked with my own, his eyes on my face. I was about to clamber back up when I heard a sharp, neat _crack_ as the branch broke, and felt a sickening jolt as I dropped sharply downwards once more. This time, though, something was different: as I fell, I felt a cold, bruising pain tear into the skin near my ankle and rip its way further and further up my leg, stopping almost at the knee. The pain was so fierce that I almost cried out. I could already feel blood beginning to dribble down my heel. Worst of all, whatever it was that had cut me was still lodged in my leg. It was probably a portion of the broken branch. I couldn't pull free.

Tyson's grip had never slackened. He was still holding me tight.

I looked up into his strained face. His cheeks were flushed with fear and exertion, and his eyes were half-closed, and his arms were shaking with the effort of supporting me. "I won't let you fall," he said, hoarsely. "Can you climb up?"

"No," I croaked. "My leg…I'm stuck."

"OK," he said, breathing deeply. "OK. Dude, can you hold on for, like, a second?"

I nodded, my eyes squeezed tight, my cheek pressed against the tree trunk.

"Right. Just – hold on…"

His fingers slipped out from underneath mine. I clutched at cracks and held on. There was a throbbing, glutinous pain running all down my leg that stung and burned with an icy fire. My fingers began to bruise as I tried desperately not to let go. My breathing was harsh, tearing in my throat. Of their own accord, my fingers began to uncurl. I could feel that one had already been sliced open by the fibreglass edge. I felt myself slipping, and steeled myself for the fall.

Something gripped my foot and wrenched it brutally away from the tree. I heard another small crack, and my leg was free – searing with a vicious, fiery pain, but free.

"Let go!" a voice called from beneath me.

Tyson?

"Just do it, Kai! I'll catch you! Just let go!"

I didn't have any choice. My fingers gave up, and I slid down the side of the tree, falling into nothingness. I felt a pair of arms reach up around me and wrap themselves around my chest. A body collapsed to the ground beneath my weight. I felt a knotted, jangling pain in my leg as it struck the earth, and after that, I felt nothing. I came to after a few seconds, and lay, looking up at the pale sky, my head resting on something warm and reassuring, an arm tucked around my chest. I think I was slightly dazed. The thing I was lying on moved slightly. I turned my head to look straight into Tyson's eyes. He gave a small, bleary smile. "Kai, you weigh a _ton_," he protested feebly.

I shot upright immediately, tumbling away from him, and rediscovering the pain in my leg as I did so. I held back a curse and gently peeled aside the cloth of my trouser leg, which was ripped and sticky with blood. A long, winding graze met my eyes, snaking down the length of my calf. Lodged in the flesh, just underneath the knee, was a splintering, jagged shard of fibreglass: the remains of the artificial branch that had broken. Gripping it firmly with my hand, I tugged it out with one swift, strong motion, and hurled it away. The pain bit brutally into me for a second, but then died down again into a gently smouldering trail of discomfort.

"Urgh! That is _nasty_!" a voice at my shoulder proclaimed, shuddering, and I turned slightly to see Tyson kneeling next to me, horror and concern staring out from his face. He had rescued the coffee, and his hands were clutched tightly around the slightly muddied flask, his knuckles white-red and shaking. "What happened?"

"I caught it on the side of the tree," I said, peering at it closely. The blood seemed to have stopped flowing.

"Are you alright?" he asked, still looking slightly appalled.

"It's barely even bleeding, you idiot," I snapped. "Let's go! Do you want to be stuck out here for the whole night?"

Leaving Tyson in the middle of an angry retort to which I wasn't paying much attention, I pushed myself up, took one step forward, and fell. I seemed to be doing that a lot recently. A pair of hands hooked themselves around my arms before I could hit the ground, and pulled me back onto my feet. Breathing hard and screwing my face up to stop myself from crying out, I gingerly tested my left foot on the ground. It wobbled, and I would have overbalanced again had not Tyson's arm wrapped itself around my shoulders. Biting my lip hard, I clutched at him until the pain had died away.

"Yeah. You see what happens?" he asked, his breath brushing my scalp.

"It's just twisted," I grunted. "I didn't realise."

"You need to sit down," he said. "Just lean on me."

And so, his arms holding me tightly, my hand clutching at his shoulder, my face pressed into the warm softness of his neck, he helped me limp the few steps over to the bridge. He laid me down in the tree's shadow, helping me to sit up against the vertical rise of earth. The ground here was slightly less wet than it was in other places: the bridge had warded off most of the rain. My eyes closed, I took a moment to grow used to the dull ache in my leg. If I didn't move it or think about it, I could hardly feel it at all.

"We need to move on," I said, opening my eyes and looking at him. He was sitting opposite me, his head bowed. He was staring at something cupped in his hands. "We need to move on now," I repeated, louder.

"What? Hey, not happening, man. You can't even walk," he said, looking up.

"So what are you suggesting we do?" I enquired, acidly.

"Rest up for a while. Hey, we've got a raincoat, we've got caffeine, and we've got…uh…well…we've got team spirit! That's not so bad, is it?"

"Whatever. It's your funeral," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and gazing resolutely up at the underside of the tree.

After a minute or two, I heard a vague, rustling sound. My leg was raised briefly, causing me to wince, and then laid back down very gently on what felt like a folded raincoat. The next thing I knew, a pair of lips was brushing my ear, and a warm body was seated next to mine. "I have a surprise for you," said the lips smugly, their breath tickling my skin in a manner that was both highly, _highly_ annoying and almost…comforting?

"Go away," I said.

"Ah, come on! Just look at it!" he pleaded.

I looked down at the scrap of paper in his hand and snatched at it crossly, smoothing it out and staring down at it. It was a photograph, slightly creased and dog-eared, smeared at one corner with what looked suspiciously like chocolate. Grinning up at me madly from the small picture was a thirteen-year-old Tyson, busily engaged in the task of trying to strangle Max, whose freckled face bore an equally huge - if slightly more put-upon - grin. A younger Rei sprawled elegantly on the grass next to them, trying hard not to laugh. A little way behind him, Kenny was frowning crossly at the camera over his laptop. Farther back still, leaning against a tree, I recognised myself, my face half-hidden in shadow. I was embarrassed to realise that I had been _smiling_ when the picture had been taken - a small, half-formed, mildly amused smile as I gazed down at Tyson.

Wordlessly, I tried to give it back to him, suddenly feeling very awkward. He pushed it into my hands, saying, "Oh, no. You are keeping that. It's a going-away present. I know it's really old, but it was the only one I could find of you smiling. I figured you better have it, just in case you forget _how_ to smile."

I looked down at it for a moment longer, staring at the bright, grinning face of the boy in the picture before tucking it away into my pocket and looking up into that same face – older, stronger, more responsible, but still bearing the same idiotic smile.

It was the face of the one person I can truly say I trust, the one person I care for more than any other. Before I met Tyson, I felt nothing. I was cruel, and I know it. I had always been proud of my ruthlessness, of my determination, of my utter refusal to feel. Then he came charging along – some nameless loser of a rookie who managed to do the undoable: defeat me.

How did I come to care? I still don't understand. All I know is this: that he is the one person who truly means anything to me, with the possible exception of Tala. He is the one person I respect. I look up to him more than anyone else, with a fierce, exasperated, helpless admiration.

Swallowing, I said, "I got you a going-away present, too."

And before he could react, I had reached into another pocket, pulled out the small stone I had found earlier, and dropped it into his hand.

For a moment I thought he was going to take it badly. He just crouched there, looking down at the little pebble. It was a deep, clouded grey, worn smooth and round by years of river water, banded by a few spindly streaks of quartz on one side. He turned it over and over, gazing at it with a strange expression that I couldn't read. Then, glancing up, he said, in a mock-serious voice, "Gee, well, um, thanks, Kai. I mean, I guess it's the thought that counts and all, but I _was_ expecting a Porsche…or maybe a yacht…or maybe just a couple billion bucks…you know, nothing fancy…"

"Shut up," I advised.

"No, seriously, Kai, a rock's a great gift – you must have spent a lot of time getting it…" he was laughing openly now. "Hey, I always wanted a pet. I'll call him Slug!"

"You can't call a rock Slug."

"Watch me."

I sighed.

Tyson, seeing this, lifted Slug the rock up to my face and squeaked, in a high, lisping voice, "Don't worry, Kai! Tyson's here to look after you!"

I slapped his hand away irritably, but, strangely, felt the tiniest bit happier.

Around us, the world grew steadily darker.

**Tyson:** Using my awesome telepathic powers, I can sense that a large number of people out there hate you.

**Ereshkigali:** What? How can you say such a negative and unfriendly thing? I am universally loved.

**Kai:** Well, you know, _that_ depends largely on what universe you had in mind.

**Tyson:** Ahem. What I'm _trying_ to say is that although you had about a gazillion almost-kisses, none of them went anywhere, and that the angry horde of screaming TyKa fangirls about to break your door down probably aren't just stopping by for a spot of tea and chit-chat.

**Ereshkigali:** Oh. Right. Actually, I'm saving the making-out scene for the last chapter…mostly because I've never done one before and am scared to death about attempting one **O.o;;**

**Tyson:** You coward.

**Bakura:** Hey! That's my very favourite fiancée you're insulting. Die, mortal scum!

**Kai:** Wait a minute…this is the Beyblade category! Get your own fic, you loser!

**Bakura:** I don't feel like it. What I do feel like doing is romantically sweeping dear little Ereshkigali over here off her feet and carrying her away into the sunset…

**Kai:** No! Come back! That's my Ferrari!

**Bakura:** XD

**Ereshkigali: **Do hormones rock or what? See you all sometime next week! Oh, and, BTW…

**Just so that you people know**, the day I got the reviews for the last chapter had been absolutely horrible. I'd had yet another agoraphobic attack at school – the worst one this whole year, and in front of practically the entire grade, no less. By the time I got home, I was almost crying. Then I read the reviews. I can't tell you guys how much you cheered me up. Thank you all so, so much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ereshkigali:** I HAVE RETURNED! (_bounces around inflicting terrible tortures on Latin textbooks)_

**Kai:** _(clears throat) _This-fic-contains-the-mention-of-an-injury-and-shonen-ai-so-if-you-don't-like-it-then-don't-read-it-and-don't-come-crying-to-me-thank-you-goodbye.

**Tyson:** You were chosen to read the warning for this chapter, hey?

**Kai:** Stupid cutesy-pie fangirl gimmicks.

**Ereshkigali:** Awww, he's just too shy to admit that's enjoying himself.

**Hilary:** What about the disclaimer?

**Ereshkigali:** Hey, rules were made to be broken. Actually, rules were made so that sadistic prefects could get their kicks out of ruthlessly chucking helpless students into DT for weeks on end, but it comes to the same thing. I WILL NOT BOW TO AUTHORITARIANISM! MY WILL IS MY OWN!

**Hilary:** Let's just let the world know that she doesn't own anything and get on with it.

**Ereshkigali:** What she said. Oh, BTW, the sub-zero temperatures to which I refer are supposed to be in degrees Celsius (which is a scale that places the freezing point of water at 0 degrees). I know that a lot of countries use Fahrenheit (which has freezing point at something weird like 32 degrees) instead, so just be aware of the difference.

**After it got dark, it began to get scary**. No, I am not afraid of the dark – usually. You try being stuck out in the forest the whole night. It's not fun. Kai had discovered a flashlight in the bottom of one of his pockets that still worked OK, so we stuck into the soft ground and propped it up with a pile of pebbles. We each had a mouthful of cold coffee every half-hour by my watch. Me, I was still worried about his leg. It looked seriously painful. Watching him in the milky-blue light of the torch, though, you couldn't even tell that he was hurt, or even that he was cold. He just sat there, leaning against the earthen wall, his skin slightly paler than usual, his arms folded, his legs stuck out straight in front of him. He was staring down at the ground with this completely emotionless look on his face. I mean, he could have been sitting at home on a normal evening, instead of freezing to death in the middle of nowhere. He wasn't even shivering.

How does he do that? He just blocks everything out like it's not there. Even now, I still don't get what goes on in his head. I don't mind. I know that's how he is. I just…I just wish that he would smile more. I love it when he smiles - maybe because he only does it, like, once every millennium or so. One of the best moments of my life was looking out across the stadium at him after he had beaten Brooklyn, and seeing his mouth just twitch up at me that littlest bit. I was so proud of him then, I cannot tell you. I mean, it was mind-blowing. I'd been going insane worrying about him, and then he just pops up and calmly takes down the strongest blader we've ever faced. And there was also that time when I won against Tala in the first Championships - and when I defeated Brooklyn – and when we were fighting each other in the finals, and I opened my eyes to see him smiling down at me, all gentle and tender…

Small question: why do all the best moments of my life involve Kai in some way?

Not even going to try to answer that.

I looked across at him. He was still looking at the ground. The spiky shadows of his hair, made unnaturally dark by the bright torchlight, fell across his pale face like streaks of soot. I watched him, drawn to his quietness, drawn to his strength. I've always secretly wanted him to like me. In a really stupid, embarrassing kind of way, I've always wanted to show him that I'm just as good as he is, not…not because I want to beat him, but because I want him to be proud of me. I want him to smile at me more often. I want him to like me.

I want to be worthy of being his friend.

Shut up, Kinomiya.

I needed conversation to take my mind off this slightly weird track of thought. I swear, I don't know how the guy survives not talking.

"You know, I read something once about not going to sleep if it's really cold," I said, as cheerfully as I could.

He moved his head a little.

"Otherwise you could never wake up again."

He spared me, like, a second's glance.

"I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't go to sleep."

"The situation to which you are referring concerns sub-zero temperatures," he said, accompanying his words with…well, I've heard people talk about a _withering glare_. I think it kind of describes how Kai looked at me then, 'cause I withered alright. I mean, the guy could scare Darth Vader. Seriously.

Five very boring minutes later, I made another brave attempt at conversation. "So, how's your leg holding up?"

"Fine."

"D'you want me to take a look at it?"

"No."

Couldn't he see I was worried about him? Was he just insanely thick? One of these days I am going to take him to a shrink, I swear. Didn't he know by now how much I cared about him? Was it so hard to get into his brain that maybe he was important to me? That maybe I looked up to him? That maybe I really, really wanted to be close to him, but couldn't?

Shut_ up_, Kinomiya.

"I'm bored!" I moaned.

"Good."

"Hello! I've done nothing but stare at some trees and a couple of fireflies for hours! I'm going insane here!"

"If your attention span is shorter than the average earthworm's, it's not my fault," he said, his words slow and dangerous. Heh, looked like he was beginning to get annoyed.

"You know, you shouldn't just go around insulting earthworms. One of these days, an alien race of Super-Worms could zap themselves here through hyperspace and start killing everyone who insulted them, and I wouldn't bother saving you."

He was frowning. This was getting good. "Tyson," he began.

"Ooh, look! I think I see a spaceship right up there! No! They're coming! Run! Run for your lives!"

"Tyson."

"No! Don't eat me! Please! Eat him instead!"

"Tyson, you…"

"No! Spare me!"

"You are the most ridiculous person I've ever known!"

"Truly?" I asked in a throaty voice, batting my eyelids and smiling seductively. "Why, thank you, kind sir."

He lurched forwards, murder written in his face, let out a curse as the pain in his leg caught him, and fell back against the wall, glowering at me.

"You are so fun to mess with, you really are," I said, laughing. "Sorry about your leg, man. You sure you're alright?"

"After being around you for two years, I think I'll survive," he said, belligerently.

"Ah, that was mean," I pouted. "Why is Kai being so mean to his poor Tyson?"

"Don't," he warned, "start."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, breezily. "Come on, dude, I just want to talk! D'you think we'll get home in time for you to catch your flight tomorrow?"

He shrugged.

"Are you…OK, how's this: we take turns asking each other questions, and you have to answer truthfully, OK?"

"_Why?"_

"To pass the time. Hey, hey, me first! What's your favourite colour?"

"I don't have one. What's yours?"

"Red and yellow. What's your favourite movie?"

"I don't have one. What's yours?"

"_Finding Nemo_. Oh, come on, the little fishies were so cute! What's your favourite food?"

"I don't have one. What's yours?"

"Um…everything? I guess. Who's your crush?"

"I don't have one. Who's yours?"

"No one. Are you going to be glad to be going back home?" There was a slight pause. Hah. Got him. "Well?"

"Yes and no. Are you glad to be staying here?" he countered swiftly.

"No," I replied. "Well, yeah. I live here. But I wish we could stay together. I miss the old days."

He made a derisive sound.

"Don't you?" I asked. "Are you really trying to tell me that you didn't have fun when we were a team? You're not _that_ anti-social."

"I didn't have _fun_. I came to value your companionship," he said, stiffly.

"Typical Kai. Hey, don't forget that you admitted it! You said that you cared!"

"Obviously I was having a slight lapse of sanity at the time."

OK, now he was just making me feel worse. More than slightly annoyed, I stood up and moved out from under the tree, staring out into the darkness. If you looked up, you could see a lot of stars – more than usual. I guess being away from the city made them a lot clearer. They were big and bright and brilliant, like these huge, blue-white diamonds, their shimmery light spilling everywhere. I stood there, gazing firmly up into the night skies, shivering. The air was so cold that it was beginning to hurt my lungs. I didn't move even when the stars began to blur and grow slightly fuzzy, but wiped my eyes firmly with the back of my hand. Didn't he get it? I was just trying to be nice, trying to be his friend, and he had to shoot me down the whole time. Sometimes he can make me feel pretty stupid. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't like him so much.

Shut up, Kinomiya!

"Tyson," I said him call. He sounded exasperated, but also faintly resigned. I turned, slowly, sniffing hard. He was looking determinedly away from me, his jaw clenched. "I'm sorry," he said, sullenly.

Slightly mollified, I went and sat down next to him, being extra careful not to brush against his leg. I noticed him flinch away a little as I sat down, before swallowing and drawing closer again. I said, in a low voice, "Hey, it's OK, dude. I…I know you…look, I can't make you care. I can't force you to say things that aren't true. You want me to shut up, then I will. You want me to get out of your life, then fine. But you can't stop _me_ caring."

"Thank you," he said awkwardly after a moment, and then, with a sudden, strange ache in his voice, "Tyson…I…"

I waited, breathless, but he didn't finish, and this horrible, uncomfortable silence fell between us and just grew and grew. Finally, I said, clearing my throat, "You know, I never did tell you how proud of you I was after you beat Brooklyn."

He looked at me, his eyes as wary and frowning as ever, but with a strange touch of something that looked weirdly like hope in them. "Do you mean that?" he asked, adding, as scathingly as he could, "or are you just being _nice_?"

"It was the best thing ever," I said. "We'd been freaking out about you. We didn't know what happened after he beat you that first time. We didn't know if you were hurt, if you were dead, even…and then you came back." What was I supposed to say? That when I had seen that blade knocking my own aside, that when I had seen him standing there, I had felt this jolt, this shock of adrenaline and amazement and insane, unbelievable happiness? That I had wanted to rush over to him and hug him and shout at him at the same time? The sun had been setting behind him, spreading strange, long shadows everywhere, and he had stood there at the top of the hill, bathed in flame, glowing with this bright, powerful force that only I had seemed to see…how was I supposed to explain all this? There was no way I could. Instead, I just continued, "I was so worried about you. It was a rough battle to watch, you know, but – you did it. You beat him. It was incredible, Kai. I was…" I sighed, and shook my head. "I swear, I was proud just to _know_ you."

I looked sideways to see him smiling at me, just the littlest bit. I smiled back, amazed at how beautiful he looked, feeling a wave of emotion well up inside me: an emotion that made me feel midway between miserable and elated. He was so special, so important, so strong, and he didn't even _realise_ it. "Tyson," he said, still smiling, shaking his head softly. "You are a fool."

"Hey!" I protested. I was too caught up in watching him to be cross. I was wrapped in this little warm cocoon of happiness. Just being there next to him, having him smile that small, beautiful smile at me, was enough.

"Now…now that I think about it," he continued, gruffly, looking down, suddenly embarrassed, "I never said thank you for saving me that day on the ice…"

"Don't talk about that," I said, sharply, my cocoon imploding in a burst of cold queasiness. He looked up, startled. "I don't like thinking about it, that's all," I said, in answer to the question he hadn't asked. "It…it still makes me feel sick, Kai. We figured you'd betrayed us. We thought…I really thought you were going to let yourself drown. I kept yelling at you to grab my hand, but you wouldn't…it was scary, OK?"

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"It's alright," I said. "I just…hey, I don't want you to die, OK?"

"I'll try not to," he said, mirthlessly, and hunched his shoulders, dipping his head down to his chest.

"I don't want you to go, either," I said, after a moment. "I'll miss you – so m-much." I hope he wouldn't notice that my voice was shaking slightly.

"Do you think that I won't miss you?" he asked, jerkily, his head still bowed.

"But you keep saying…"

"Oh, forget it," he said, still looking down at his hands.

"Kai –"

"Just leave it, Tyson!"

"No," I said. "I'm not leaving it. You can't walk away from me this time. I want to know."

"There's nothing to know."

"I'm not buying that, Kai."

"Not buying what?" he asked, crossly. "Tyson, there is nothing to talk about! I'm going home with Tala tomorrow. You're staying here. We'll meet at the Championships and battle. That's it."

"That's not it," I said. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off his face, grey-white and haggard with cold and tiredness, his glare frowning and fixed. "You're not only competition. You're my _friend_, Kai, my friend, and when I say that, I mean it. I'm not just going to let you disappear again. I can't. You mean too much to me."

_Shut up, Kinomiya!_

He said, "Um." His lips were slightly parted, and his chin was stuck out, and he was swallowing hard. It looked a lot like he was trying not to cry.

"Kai?" I asked, tentatively. Before I could stop myself, I had reached out a hand to him. I knew that he didn't like touching people, but I'm telling you, I couldn't help it. He looked so cold and sad and tired that I just had to touch him, that I just had to try to make him feel the littlest bit better. My fingers brushed his cheek, then hung there, frozen, as I realised what I was doing. He turned to face me, his head moving slowly and stiffly. For this one really small moment, I thought I saw something almost like longing in his face, and he bent his head ever so slightly towards my fingers, but then his expression changed, and he was angry and as unreachable as ever.

"Stop it," he said, and turned away.

I let my hand drop. "You _do_ care," I said, quietly.

He acted as though he hadn't heard.

"Why did you come back if you didn't? You didn't have to fight Brooklyn."

"He defeated me. I had to defeat him."

"So that's it?" I asked, desperately. "That's the only reason you came back? Gee, thanks. We always thought that maybe you cared about us enough to help us fight, but apparently it was just you being all proud and full of yourself, _as usual_."

"I did it because of you, Tyson!" he almost shouted, snapping his head round and staring at me fiercely. "I couldn't let Boris take blading away from us like that. I had to stop him. I had to show you…that…" he stopped, and then, after a really long, frightened silence, began again, more quietly, "Do you really think I would leave you alone to face something like that?"

"Um…I don't know," I said, a little taken aback. "Would you?"

"Never," he said, not looking at me, and then, in a very hoarse, quiet voice, "You're the only person who means anything to me."

Well, that was unexpected. I blinked. "Did you really just say that?"

"Obviously."

"But…but…you – you really meant it?"

"Yes."

I think I was in shock. I was so surprised that I could barely think straight. Laughing, I said, incredulously, "I can't believe I'm not recording this. You know much I could get on e-Bay? Like, Kai Hiwatari's true feelings – caught on tape! I would be _so_ rich."

"Don't push your luck," he said, hunching shoulders up and dropping his head back onto his chest. "It's not happening again."

"That's OK. One miracle's enough," I said, happily, leaning back against the wall with my arms folded behind my head, kicking my legs out in front of me and staring up at the tree. I could feel the warmth of his body, barely a hand's width away from mine, and gave a little sigh of contentment. I might be lost in a creepy forest with only a raincoat, some coffee, a flashlight and a rock named Slug, but I had Kai with me, and that was totally more than enough.

It suddenly occurred to me that we hadn't finished our question game. "I think it was my turn," I said. He shot me this really grouchy look of incomprehension before understanding showed in his face. The fact that he didn't yell at me to shut up encouraged me a bit, so, in the spirit of all that is good and true and random, I asked, "If you could have one wish, what would it be?"

"None of your business."

"Nope! Wrong answer! You have to tell the truth!"

"That is true," he said to the ground. "It is none of your business."

"That's not fair!"

"Goodnight, Tyson."

"Can I tell you mine?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Goodnight, Tyson."

I squinted at him. "You're evil."

"Huh."

I figured that meant that the conversation was pretty much over.

Muttering glumly to myself, I folded my jacket tightly across my chest, tucking my hands deep into the pockets, trying to get more comfortable. My nose itched, but I was too cold to move my hands to scratch it. Instead I spent a few unsuccessful minutes trying to wiggle it. When the itch finally disappeared, my neck started to hurt, so I shook my head from side to side. Then I realised that my foot had fallen asleep, and was now being attacked by pins and needles. Twitching it to the side a little, I kicked over the flashlight.

Oh, great.

Nice going, Kinomiya.

Darkness dropped over the world. I leapt forward and scrabbled around on the ground. When at last I found the flashlight, I clicked the button on and off desperately, but the stupid thing was completely dead. "Oops," I said, grinning sheepishly into the night. "Sorry."

There was no answer. Looked like I was getting the silent treatment again.

"Hello? Kai? You alive?"

Still nothing. As my eyes bean to get more and more accustomed to the shadowy starlight, I could dimly begin to make out the shape of his body. His head was still bowed, his shoulders slumped, his hands trailing limply on the ground beside him. He looked asleep – or…

In a blind, breathless second of pointless panic, I scrambled over to him and laid a trembling hand on his arm. After what felt like forever, I felt his chest lift slowly. Feeling kind of stupid for overreacting, I sat down next to him. His clothes, like mine, were still slightly damp. Was he as cold as I was? I hoped not. Despite what I had said earlier, I still felt kind of responsible for this whole thing. I mean, I'd been supposed to _find_ the guy, not get him lost. Actually, he _was_ shivering a little. Now what?

I hesitated for a moment, but then figured that, as he was asleep, he would never know what I was doing. Slowly, so as not to wake him, I slid my arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer to me. Hey, how else were we both supposed to keep warm? I felt his weight slump against me as his head flopped down onto my shoulder, and I tucked my other arm around his chest, letting the hand reach up to rest against his soft, soft face. At that, he stirred, giving a small grunt of tiredness, and then stiffened suddenly. This huge jolt went right through him, and I could hear his breathing speed up. I swear, I could actually feel his heart doing this serious drum roll against my chest. I felt him pull roughly away, his hands clawing at my skin, before he realised that it was me.

For a moment, he just sat there motionless, half-in and half-out of my arms, like he didn't know what to say or do. Looking down at his face in the misty, murky half-light of the stars, I could see confusion and apprehension written in his features – and then, suddenly, he looked up at me, and smiled.

It was grudging and resigned, but unbelievably grateful. Just seeing it filled me with this dizzy, quivering warmth, so that the world was almost glowing. He gave a small sigh and moved his head back down, his cheek resting on my shoulder, his arm draped gently, clingingly over my chest. I held him even closer, and buried my nose in his slightly damp hair, feeling the rhythm of his breathing press his body against mine.

Sleepily, I asked him, "Are you mad at me for getting us lost?"

"It wasn't your fault," he replied, his voice hoarse and slurred with sleep. I could feel his lips, dry and bloodless from the cold, brushing my neck ever so slightly. "You should me mad with me."

"Dude, I only said that 'cause I was in a bad mood," I pointed out.

"Still – my fault," he murmured. He sounded dead tired now.

"It's not," I insisted, my fingers unconsciously stroking his cheek.

"It is," he persisted.

"Stop being so stubborn, Kai!" My fingers had reached his hair, and were playing with it gently.

I heard him give this little sigh of exasperation that was almost a laugh.

"Don't you laugh at me! We could be stuck here forever! We could die! And you're laughing at me?"

"We're not going to die," he said, scornfully, trying hard to suppress a yawn and failing.

"You just better not," I said, suddenly becoming serious – well, serious for me, anyway. "I don't want to lose you again."

"Tyson…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Shut up and go to sleep. I'm on it."

He said nothing, but after a moment his hand reached up and caught mine, which was still resting idly in his hair, and pulled it down and held it against his chest. His grip was hard and unwavering, and I knew that it was a promise. I knew that he was promising me, without words and without doubts, that I would never lose him. Silently, I stroked the tips of his curled fingers with my thumb, and closed my eyes, letting the warm darkness of sleep take me, slipping into nothingness, and feeling him follow me.

**Ereshkigali:** Well, you survived. Yes, I know that I use the English first names and the Japanese surnames. I don't really care, but I do hereby give you full permission to flame me about it. Flames are fun. Also, if you remember, Kai was watching Tyson sleep earlier on. Now Tyson gets to watch Kai sleep. I guess all's fair in love and fanfiction.

**Kai:** Somehow, that doesn't have quite the same ring to it as the original quote.

**Ereshkigali:** Do I care? No. Anyway, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL MY REVIEWERS. I just have a few quick things to say to my main readers:

**Destruction Devil:** Long live the random pet objects! I have a toy spider called Fluffy, a beaded lizard called Bean the Fish, and a PIkachu doll called the Rat. Hey, it's a talking point. I like scaring people.

**TechnoRanma:** You know, it is ever so slightly insane to be getting reviews from someone who, oh, I don't know, only wrote one of my favourite TyKa fics of all time. The author of _Impossible_ is reviewing me! _(dies, then comes back to life chanting "TYKA FOREVER!")_ Luvvies!

That's it. See you soon!


	5. Chapter 5

You guys are seriously going to hate me. This is a very, very, very short chapter. I figured I'd just do a little baby one before finishing it all off. So this is purposely only about a thousand words long. PLEASE don't kill me.

Once again, I've screwed up Kai's character, but he is difficult to write. Also, Tala's in this one…no, I don't know why. Hey, he's hot, OK?

Beyblade belongs to some rich Japanese dude, and I imply very fluffy shonen-ai. Have fun.

**Everything around me felt utterly unreal**, from the shimmering, pale yellow sunlight spilling down through the cold air, to the icy, stinging streak of thin pain that still sliced up and down my leg whenever I moved.

It was like some sort of soft-shadowed, senseless dream filled with clear light and blurred birdsong. My eyes felt sore and tired, and my entire body ached with cold and stiffness, but I was already growing numb; everything was already becoming insubstantial and insignificant.

Everything, that is, except him.

His small, warm hand was cupped heavily in my own, his cheek pressed against my face. I could feel his hot, shivery breath sighing against my skin like silk. His heartbeat was slow and soft, but steady. I could feel a strand of his hair tickling the back of my ear ever so slightly. He was solid and warm and real – everything from his quiet, sleeping face to his tousled, frost-touched hair was important. In that moment, he was more vital to me than life.

He was everything.

I'd always wanted more than almost anything to defeat him. If I could beat him, it would show him that…that I was strong. I wanted to prove to him that I could do anything. I wanted to show him how good I was. I wanted him to believe in me, to trust me. I wanted him to be proud.

Why? Why, of all people, Tyson?

I didn't know.

All I knew was that he had to keep on breathing. As long as he was breathing, I had something to hold on to.

"Tyson!"

"Guys! Can you hear us?"

"Kai!"

I started, opening my eyes fully to the dazzle of early-morning sunlight. The world was coated in a thick frost that sparkled and glittered in the light like crushed glass, powdery and brilliant. A thin layer of chalky ice clung to my clothes. I was so cold that I no longer had the energy to shiver. I just lay there, staring down dully at my fingers, which were blue-white and bloodless, and at Tyson's, shorter and softer, looking horribly fragile, meshed with my own.

"Kai!"

I knew that voice.

"Kai! Where are you?"

It was Tala's.

Gently, slowly, I forced myself to move, pulling my fingers from Tyson's, slipping out from underneath his soft, slow-breathing weight, dragging my aching legs aside, ignoring the fierce twinge in my right calf. Kneeling beside him, I shook his shoulder, and said, finding my voice cracked and hoarse, said, "Tyson."

His peeled open very, very slowly, and he said, "What?"

I snatched my hand back from his shoulder, and said, looking away, "Get up. We're leaving."

"I'm tired."

I ignored him, concentrating on pulling myself up. It was difficult. My body was stiff and cold, and the pain in my leg wasn't going away, but I managed to stand eventually, and stood, my arms crossed, my back turned, for Tyson to come bouncing up behind me.

He didn't.

I turned to see him leaning against the earthen wall, his eyes closed, his mouth frowning unhappily, his breathing sounding painful. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" I snapped, trying to ignore the frantic worry taking hold of me.

He rubbed his face and blinked up at me. "Sorry, Kai," he mumbled, steadying himself and taking a few steps forward. "I'm just…whoa, I'm just…cold."

I was on the verge of turning away again, when from the corner of my eye I saw him stumble and sway. I wheeled round to face him as fast as I could, and he collapsed into my arms, his body slumped against mine, his head lolling against my shoulder. I fought the dizziness and pain that shot through me, and forced myself to stay upright, holding him as tightly as I could.

"S-s-sorry," he muttered, embarrassed, looking up. "Just…tired…"

"I heard voices," I gasped, still dizzy. "Come on."

"Your leg…?" he asked,

"I'll be fine," I said, fighting to keep my eyes open. "Here…come…"

So, supporting each other, each step slow and excruciating, we limped, cold and tired and stiff, down the frost-covered road that glittered in the sun. The ice broke and crunched beneath our feet, and the thin, chilling morning breeze whistled around us and raised goosebumps on our already freezing flesh.

I could hear him crying, quietly, harsh, dry, jerking sobs of sheer exhaustion. I could taste the dark bitterness of blood in my mouth; I had bitten my lip through. My leg felt as though it were being torn to shreds by a cold, slow, poisonous pain, but I dragged it forwards, pulling Tyson with me. The world was blurring again into a haze of agony and relentless, brutal cold. We had to keep walking. All we had to do was keep walking. I had to get him home. I had to keep him safe.

_If he dies, it's my fault_.

Take one step, feel him take another, breathe, listen for his breath, take one step, feel him take another, breathe…fight the cold, keep walking, ignore the pain, keep walking…keep walking…

"I've found them!"

Tala?

"Quickly! They need help!"

I couldn't stand any longer. My knees buckled, and I dropped to the ground, feeling frost crackle and melt at the touch of my skin. Tyson fell with me, and lay there, sprawled on the cold, hard earth, his eyes closed, his hands crushed limply beneath him. Was he breathing? I couldn't tell.

_If he dies, it's my fault_.

"Kai!" An arm slipped underneath my own, and pulled me up to a sitting position. I gave a little grunt, and gritted my teeth together as my injured leg was twisted underneath me. I looked up to see Tala's face, apparently emotionless, gazing down into mine. "Are you alright?" he asked, as though it were a business question.

"Yes," I rasped, looking back down to Tyson's pale, mud-spattered face. "Tyson needs help."

"He'll be fine," Tala told me crossly, supporting me with an arm behind my back, his hand clutching my elbow. "Kai, listen to me. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" I almost shouted, pulling away from him. "Worry about Tyson, not me!"

"He'll be OK, Kai," a softer voice – Rei's -said in my ear. "You're both going to be fine."

I watched Max and Hilary kneel down next to Tyson's body. I watched Kenny feel for his pulse. I watched Daichi come running up with Tyson's grandfather. I felt Tala pull me back and make me lie down as I tried to push forward. He tucked something soft under my head, and I lay, helpless, drained, staring up at the empty sky, listening to the sounds of the world fade away as I slipped into unconsciousness.

_IF he dies, it's my fault._

_It's my fault._

**No, Tala was not hitting on Kai**. Sorry, TaKa fans. Also, apologies for the insane shortness. Feel free to curse me into oblivion. The next chapter, whenever I get it up, will be double the normal length to make up for it, and jam-packed with shonen-ai. That is a solemn promise.

A million gazillion huggles go out to the following oh-so-extraordinary people:

**TechnoRanma:** _(jumps up and down screaming like a maniac before tripping and breaking an ankle) _OMG, where to START? That was the nicest review anyone's ever given me! You have no idea how psyched I got. I was squeaking so much I practically fell off my chair **Oo;; **It really and truly made my day! You've been so supportive during this fic! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! _(breathes) _OK…right…I think I better calm down now…

**FeelinGlayish:** Hey there! Yep, I love the Japanese names, but the dub names are easier to use for general purposes. I never really liked Granger – Kinomiya suits Tyson so much better. It's just more…Tyson-like. I'm sorry, I've been in such an abstract mood recently. Before I bore the world senseless with my random ramblings, I need to say a HUGE thank you! Luvvies!

**Destruction Devil:** Hee! I love being immature. Thank you for the review!

**Mikin Ishida:** Have I told you yet how utterly in love I am with _Frozen Love_? I have? Well, I'm telling you again! Keep them updates coming! Thank you so much for your reviews. I'm really glad you like my story! XD


	6. Chapter 6

Please feel free to kill me.

_(bashes head against wall several times)_

Simply put, **CHAPTER FIVE SUCKED.** Kai was being a drama queen about getting them lost, Tyson would not have been that close to dying an oh-so-theatrical death, and the whole thing was too rushed. I am truly sorry.

However, after kicking myself in the head for posting that nonsense yesterday evening, I spent the whole of last night on this, and I am really happy to say that it is a LOT better. Life lesson learned: I don't write well from Kai's PoV. I was originally going to have Kai end all this off, but after Chapter Five's fiasco, I figured it would be better to stick with Tyson, whom I have loads of fun writing.

Also, by the way, it is possible to twist your ankle after falling three metres. I twisted mine really badly a couple years ago, and that was only when my mom tried to make me wear high heels to a wedding **Xx**

Beyblade is not mine, and shonen-ai is ensured. Here I go.

**My head was all stuffy, my eyes were sore,** I had a fever, my throat felt like it was on fire, and I sneezed about every other second.

Guess what? If you spend the night out in the forest and wake up covered in frost, chances are you'll end up with a cold.

"This," I said to Slug the Rock, who was living on top of the alarm clock, "has not been a good day."

After Tala showed up and saved our butts, we got dragged back to the dojo by my grandpa, who looked like he kind of wanted to kill us. Hilary was going completely and totally nuts. She didn't even care that we had lost both the raincoat and the coffee flask. She had dumped us both in the room Daichi and I had been sharing all summer, buried us in hot water bottles and blankets, force-fed us some seriously evil medicine, and locked us in. Actually, it was kind of fun to have her practically waiting on me instead of nagging me. What was not fun was lying in bed the whole day.

Having a cold is very, very boring.

Being stuck in the same room as Kai is even worse.

Together, they can be lethal.

Staring at the ceiling was pretty interesting, if you liked that sort of thing. The cracks in the paint on the bedside table were quite fun to count. I guess, if you really wanted to, you could probably get pretty into playing 'I spy' with yourself. Then, of course, there was thinking up rude lyrics to songs, thinking up ways to torture Daichi, seeing how long you could go without breathing, biting your nails, counting imaginary woolly animals…

Who was I kidding?

"Kai, this is boring!"

Wow. No answer at all. Never saw that one coming.

"Are you awake?"

Apparently not.

"Kai?"

I sat up, sneezed, rubbed my eyes and peered over to Kai's bed through the semi-darkness. The only light fell dimly through the half-closed curtains. I could just see him, lying on his back, his hands resting on his bare stomach, his leg kicked out from underneath the blankets. It was wrapped up in bandages that were already coming a little loose. Kenny had managed to find some basic first-aid stuff online, and he and Hilary had had a lot of fun working out the best way to deal with Kai's leg. The ankle hadn't even been sprained, just badly twisted, and the cut was deep, but not too scary. That's what Kenny had said, anyway, and he's not called the Chief for nothing. Kai, naturally, hadn't said anything. I had been too busy being grossed out. If that had happened to me, I think I would have been crying like a baby.

"Kai?" I asked again, sitting up and swinging my legs out of the bed. Even in just my boxers, I was still warm, which was a really, really nice feeling. "Kai?" His eyes were definitely open, and staring up at the ceiling resolutely. "You can't ignore me! I know you're alive!"

How's this for nice? The dude just turned over and faced the wall. One day I'm really going to get mad at him.

I slipped out of bed entirely, my feet meeting the floor. Once on my legs, I wobbled slightly, but it wasn't that bad. Holding my breath, I crept quietly across the metre or so of floor between our beds. His breathing was low and steady, his bare, pale shoulders rising and falling gently. Carefully, carefully, I bent over him until my mouth was almost touching his ear, and raised my hand to hover just over his neck. I took in a deep breath, and yelled, "Giant mutant space-worms!"

He jerked away, twisting around furiously, and saw me laughing my head off. "What is your problem, Tyson?" he burst out.

"Nothing," I said, sitting down on the bed. The laughter had made my throat feel even worse, but it was worth it.

"Get off my bed!" he almost shouted.

"I don't feel like it," I said, crossing my legs and resting my chin in my hands. I eyed him mischievously. "I feel like playing 'I spy'."

"Get off," he repeated.

"OK, fine. I'll start. I spy with my little eye something that is big and mean and horrible."

He just sighed, pulled the blankets close around him, and turned back to the wall, keeping as far away from me as possible. I keep telling myself that one of these days I'm going to hit him right in the mouth just to teach him a lesson. Looking at the back of his head, I told myself that he deserved it. Also looking at the back of his head, I found myself remembering how soft his hair was. In a lot of ways, he's just so safe to be around. I mean, I'm telling you right now that I would trust Kai with my life. He's a conceited show-off, and most of the time he doesn't care the littlest bit what happens to anyone just as long as he wins, but when he does care, he's loyal. He doesn't show it, but I know it's true. He'd do anything for Tala, that's for certain, and there have been times when I believed that he'd do anything for me, as well.

Other times, though, I'm not so sure.

He said he cared, didn't he? He said that I was the only person who meant anything to him. He did say that, right? Right?

I looked away from his hair. It was making me think…strangely. Instead, my eyes fell on his leg. I decided then and there that I was never going to get over how sore it looked. Suddenly realising that I really wanted to know the answer, I said, quietly, "So how're you doing, bud?"

"Fine," he said in a monotone. I could tell he hadn't even opened his eyes.

"Are you sure you're OK?"

"Yes."

After a long silence, I said, "Thank you. You did get us out of there."

"Thank Tala. He found us."

"Yeah…so you're going tomorrow, instead of today? Maxie and Rei came in to say goodbye just now, when you were asleep. They were worried about you."

He grunted something.

"I'm worried, too."

"I'm _fine_," he growled.

"I know you are now," I said. "I'm just worried…look, I know you said that you're not going to forget us and all, but seriously, how long is this going to last? In a couple of years we'll have moved on to totally different teams. We might want to take time out from blading to go to college or university or whatever. Then maybe we'll retire and start coaching new bladers. What are the chances we can keep the Bladebreakers together through all that? I mean, it looks like sooner or later we'll just have to…to let it die."

"Nothing lasts forever," he said, brutally, coolly. "Let it go and move on."

"I hate you," I said. OK, it sounded like I was two years old. I didn't care. It got my point across.

"Grow up," he advised, smoothly.

I looked around the room for something to glare at, and my eyes landed on Slug, who was having a nice, cosy nap and dreaming about…whatever rocks dream about. It kind of made me want to cry, I guess, because last night had been – well, yeah, alright, it had been freezing cold and dead scary and life-threatening and all the rest, but Kai had been…nice. He had smiled at me. He had given me a pet rock. He had slept snuggled up against me. He had still been grouchy and quiet and grumpy, but he had allowed himself to care. He hadn't held himself away from me. Why?

Maybe because he had figured that he wouldn't see me again. Maybe because he had figured that afterwards he would get on an aeroplane and fly halfway across the continent. Maybe it had been like a goodbye.

Oh, great. It _had_ been a goodbye.

I looked back at him, feeling a lump come into my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold back the red, glutinous mass of tears that was building up behind them, and then blinked them open again. I am not the sort of person who cries about nothing. I think…yeah, the last time I had cried had been when I was watching Kai battle Brooklyn. I had been so completely freaked out then, and I was completely freaked out now. I did not want to lose him. He was too special. I looked at the strong, slender muscles of his back, and at the shallow curve of his neck, and almost burst into tears. This was just not my day.

"Kai," I said, my voice quivering slightly. "Dude, can I talk to you for one second?"

He didn't even answer.

I was so sick of it. I was so fed up of him ignoring me, of him not being able to see how much he meant to me. Was the guy jut totally out of it? My hand shot out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him over onto his back. His eyes remained closed for a moment, his jaw tightening. In that small second, that tiny breath of time, I was torn between yelling at him and just getting up and going away. That was what he wanted, wasn't it? He wanted to be left in peace. It would make him happy, and that was more important than anything else.

Then his eyelids drew themselves back, and he looked up at me, calm, arrogant, uncaring.

I took in a very deep breath, began to say something, and couldn't. The words just gave up and ran away. I could feel his hair caught underneath my fingers, and the surprisingly quick rhythm of his heart. Suddenly feeling immensely tired, I couldn't do anything except look down at him. My heart beating in my throat, my eyes blurring with tears, I slipped down next to him and buried my face in his hair, wrapping my arm around his neck. I knew that I was practically asking to be murdered, but I didn't care. I was so cross and sad and headachy and tired that I didn't actually give a damn anymore. I just wanted to go back to sleep and never have to wake up again. I wanted lie there, pressed against his chest, my arms around him, forever and ever and ever.

I really, really didn't want him to leave.

"Tyson…" I heard him say. I knew that he was going to say something mean and belittling and stupid, and so I cut him off before he could even begin.

No longer able to stop myself from crying, I shot up off his chest and hissed furiously, my voice shaking, "Stop it, Kai! Just don't even say anything, OK? I know that you're going to say something horrible and mean, and I really, really, _really_ don't want you to. This is the last time I'm going to see you for ages, and I'm going to miss. I know I've said it before, and I don't care! I don't care, Kai! I'm going to keep on telling you until you get the message. Just once more, I just want you to be nice, and not say anything mean. You don't even have to say you like me, because I know that you don't, but I just want you to let me go on pretending that we're friends, OK? I just want you to let me p-pretend, just this once, because I…I…" I couldn't go on. If you really want to know, I was bawling my head off. Tears were dribbling down my face and splashing everywhere, and my chin was trembling, and I could not stop crying. Naturally, it was only making my headache worse. Everything sucked.

I heard him swallow; I couldn't see his face. The world was one huge, dark blur. He said, in a strange voice, "Am I really like that?"

Still crying, I wailed, "No! No, Kai, you're not. I'm just being a stupid little brat. Just…look, just ignore me. I'm…I'll go. I'll go away right now. It's just that…I like you so much, Kai. I really do. You've always been there for me. I don't know whether it's 'cause you feel responsible for me, or 'cause…I…you never let me slack. You made me keep working. You made me push myself as hard as I could. I…I wanted to beat you. I wanted to show you that I was strong, that I was good. I wanted to show you that I was more than just some rookie who got a lucky break. I wanted to make you proud of me, Kai. You've never let me down. You've always, always been there, making sure I'm alright. You came back and fought Brooklyn. You saved me yesterday. You're the best blader I know…you're the best blader ever! I…" I broke off, and sniffed hard, and dashed my hand across my eyes, looking down at him, at his flushed, frowning, beautiful face. "You inspire me, Kai. And you're going to leave. And I'm being stupid. I'm sorry. I'm going."

"Tyson…" he said again.

"It's OK," I said, hiccoughing. "I'm your friend, Kai, your _friend_, and that means that I want you to be happy. I just want you to be alright. That means that if you want me to leave you alone, I will. As long as you're OK, then I'm fine. I promise." I don't think I was making much sense. I was tired, I had the headache to end all headaches, and my throat was getting worn out by doing so much shouting. Oh, this was so not fun.

I was already moving away from him when his hand caught at my arm.

"Don't go," he said, simply, quietly, commandingly. Stupid Kai. Thinks he owns the freaking universe. Stupid.

"I'll do what I want to," I snapped.

"I meant it, Tyson!" he burst out. "Have you completely forgotten everything I said? I meant all of it. You are my greatest rival, Tyson - my strongest ally – my most loyal team-mate – and my closest friend. Stop whining and listen to me for a change! If you beat me, I know that I have to work harder, and if I beat you, I know that I can't stop training, because the next time we face each other, you'll be even better than before. You keep me fighting. You mean more to me than anything else. When I was fighting Brooklyn - I won that battle for you, Tyson. You were the one who cheered me on. You were the one who trusted me enough to let me make my own decisions. You were the one who caught me when I fell. You're – you're _my_ inspiration, Tyson."

I was practically sitting on top of the guy, crying my eyes out and listening to him say that I was his friend. I think all that was actually going through my head was, _I've gone nuts. I've lost it. This is not happening._ All I could say was, "Oh."

"Well, at least it got you to be quiet," he said, crossly.

I gave this weird little snort that was like a mix between a sob and a laugh. He smiled up at me through his tears, this sad, strong, fierce smile – and the next second I had flung my arms around his neck again and was crying into his chest. I pressed my face into the soft, tender skin of his neck and wept, my body jerking against his as I sobbed, my fingers clutching at his hair, feeling our heartbeats thud together. He was so talented, and so powerful, and so amazing, and so full of himself, and so annoying. He was Kai, and that was the best thing in the world.

He was stroking my back, clutching me to him, trying, I guessed, to shut me up. I bit back my tears, and lay there, steadying my breathing, trying hard to calm myself down. At last, I gulped one last time, wiped my face with my hands and pushed myself up a little until I could look into his eyes. "You're a jerk," I told him. "You made me cry."

"You made _me_ cry," he said, resentfully.

It was only then that I realised that he _was_ actually crying. With a shaking hand, I reached out and ran a gentle thumb along each eye, wiping away the tears. I had never been so careful in my life. I cupped his face in my palm, so happy and so proud just to be touching him – just to be near him. His skin was gently dampened with sweat, and very warm from the slight fever he'd picked up. That same, small, fierce smile was twisting his mouth up the littlest bit. I knew he wouldn't forget me. I knew now that he valued me too much. What was more, I knew that he understood that I would never forget him. In the end, I guess there are some things you just know. Our faces were centimetres apart. His skin was hot and smooth and supple under my fingers, and his eyes were wild and dark, staring up into mine with a furious, proud, almost triumphant intensity. My entire body was tingling, shivering with a fierce, sensual fire. His breaths were hard and short. My hands had somehow slipped down, away from his face, to stroke his chest and neck, playing with a hard nipple, tickling the skin. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but instead, I leaned down and covered his lips with my own.

I had expected him to flinch, but he didn't. He kissed me back, his mouth moving against my own, his touch yearning and powerful, his hands threading themselves through my hair The world was spinning, and adrenaline and love and amazement were spreading through my body, so that I was dizzy and frightened and exhilarated all at once. I was shaking, my mind completely saturated with pleasure and desire and this insane, intense joy. I was still trembling when we pulled away, and when, in silence, I let my head fall down to his shoulder, and snuggled up against him like a kid. I still had a headache. I was still dead tired. Stupidly, I asked, "What about tomorrow?"

"I'll leave," he said.

"I don't want you to," I said.

"Stop whining."

"I'm not whining!" I protested, hurt. Damn, he was annoying. "I just don't want you to go."

"You'll be fine," he said, awkwardly. Hah. I think he was blushing.

"We'll see each other again soon, though, right?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"Go to sleep. You need some rest."

"Promise?"

"Yes. Go to sleep."

"You're mean."

"You're a pest."

"You know I think I love you, right?"

There was a startled, nervous silence, and then he gave this little cough that could just possibly have been a yes.

"I mean," I continued, breathlessly, "It's like, I didn't even realise, but it was always there. The whole time I knew you, you were…you were the most special person ever, and I never understood till now. You know?"

"Yes," he said, after a while. "I do know."

We lay there together in the warm, warm bed, waiting for tomorrow.

**Well, that's it. It's over. Dead. Gone. Finished. The fluff hath ended.**

I'm embarrassed to say that I was blushing when I wrote that making-out scene. OK, I always blush when I read lemons, but that was just a stupid little kiss! Tyson on top…delightful, yet completely spontaneous. This is what comes of writing at 3 AM. Your brain goes weird.

In closing, thank you to everyone who stuck by me for this fic. I love each and every single one of the following people to bits, and you all have permission to feel very, very adored: **FeelinGlayish**, **Destruction Devil**, **Mikin Ishida**, **takuya**, **luvyagal, skimmie**, **FireieGurl**,** spirtfox**,** still-trying-to-get-a-life**,** vanukavixen**, **frostt**, **Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85**, **edhel-tarien**, **PhantomNight**, **NekoAnime**, **Raichil **and, of course,** TechnoRanma **(You are the greatest, Ranma-sweetie. I will wuv you from now till eternity, oh awe-inspiring one! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!).

I am stuck for inspiration for a new fic. Please review with suggestions, requests, ideas…ANYTHING!

Y'all have fun now.

Peace out.


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